In the quest to find life on another world in our solar system, scientists have to look in some pretty inhospitable places. Whether it's the arid, radiation-soaked surface of Mars, the freezing wasteland of Titan, or the alien oceans of Europa and Enceladus, finding life in these places is not going to be easy.

But while we might think of Earth as a temperate planet well-suited for life, there are places on our own planet that are just as inhospitable. One of those places is the Danakil Depression, a remote hellscape in Ethiopia. Danakil is an arid desert filled with volcanoes and lakes of acid, and yet even here, life can find a way to thrive.

A team of researchers has been exploring the Danakil region since 2013, hoping to understand how life could adapt to extreme environments. But first, they had to find it, and they weren't even sure there was any to find. Between the searing 120+ degree temperatures, the constant volcanic eruptions, and the acid pools, life would have a tough time.

But eventually, the researchers did find life there. In the poisonous acid pools, the researchers found DNA from extremophile bacteria that had grown accustomed to the hostile environment. In the acid pools, the team found bacteria living inside a pool with a pH of 0, a new record.

This find is good news for scientists hoping to find life elsewhere in the solar system. Life is resilient, and Danakil is arguably harder to live in than Mars or Europa. Perhaps it's only a matter of time before we find life there too.

Source: BBC

Headshot of Avery Thompson
Avery Thompson
twitter.com/physicallyavery